The History of Health as a Commodity: From Public Good to Corporate Profit

Health has not always been a market-driven commodity?—?historically, it was considered a communal, spiritual, and social responsibility. However, over time, economic, political, and technological forces have transformed health into a for-profit industry controlled by corporations, pharmaceutical companies, and insurance systems. This shift has fundamentally altered who has access to healthcare, how illness is defined, and what treatments are prioritized.

1. The Communal and Holistic Roots of Health (Pre-Industrial Societies)

Before health became a marketable good, it was understood as a shared responsibility, often intertwined with spiritual, environmental, and social well-being. ?? Ancient civilizations (Egypt, China, India, Greece, Indigenous cultures):

• Health was often holistic, community-based, and preventative rather than reactionary.
• Medical care was typically provided by religious leaders, herbalists, and community healers, emphasizing balance (e.g., Ayurveda, Chinese Medicine, Hippocratic theory of humors).
• The cost of healing was social, not financial?—?reciprocity and collective care were the norm.

?? Medieval and Early Modern Europe:

• Hospitals emerged as charitable institutions, often run by religious organizations.
• Healing was still considered a communal duty, not a private industry.
• Monarchies and religious orders provided healthcare as a public service, especially during plagues and famines.

?? Health was considered an essential social good, not a commodity.

2. The Industrial Revolution and the Rise of Medical Markets (18th–19th Century)

The Industrial Revolution (1760–1840) fundamentally altered the economics of health, as industrialization led to:

• Overcrowded cities, poor working conditions, and the spread of disease, making health a growing social crisis.
• Governments beginning to regulate public health, but only to keep the workforce productive.
• The emergence of private medical practitioners who charged fees, introducing a market-based model of care.

?? Key Shifts:

• Sickness as an Economic Liability: Workers needed to be kept healthy to maintain industrial productivity.
• Medical Professionalization: Doctors formed medical associations to control licensing and limit access to healthcare knowledge, shifting medicine from a communal service to an elite profession.
• Pharmaceutical Patents & Private Drug Markets: The first patented medicines emerged, marking the start of the pharmaceutical industry.

?? Health began shifting from a social good to a market-driven service.

3. The Birth of Eugenics and Health as a Tool of Capitalism (Late 19th–Early 20th?Century)

As industrialized nations developed capitalist economies, healthcare, medicine, and public policy became instruments of social control, reinforcing hierarchies of race, class, and ability.

?? Eugenics and the “Scientific” Justification for Health Commodification:

• Eugenic policies linked health to productivity and “fitness” for society.
• Poor, disabled, and non-white populations were denied access to care because they were deemed “unworthy investments.”
• The rise of workplace health programs was not about well-being?—?it was about keeping workers productive and profitable.

?? Health Insurance as a Business Model (1900s-1930s):

• Germany (1883) created the first nationalized health insurance system, but in the U.S. and UK, private health insurance was emerging as an industry.
• Doctors resisted universal healthcare, fearing it would limit their earning potential.
• Hospitals shifted from charitable institutions to for-profit models, requiring wealth or insurance to receive care.

?? Health was now divided: the rich got care, the poor were disposable.

4. The Corporate Takeover of Health (Post-WWII?—?Present)

By the mid-20th century, healthcare was fully transformed into a profit-driven industry, dominated by:

• Private insurance companies
• Pharmaceutical corporations
• For-profit hospitals
• Biomedical patents and research monopolies

?? Key Moments in Health Commodification:

1. The U.S. Rejects Universal Healthcare (1940s–1960s):

• While Europe adopted public healthcare models, the U.S. privatized health, linking it to employment.
• Employer-based insurance locked workers into jobs for medical security.

2. The Rise of Big Pharma (1980s–2000s):

• Deregulation allowed pharmaceutical companies to patent life-saving drugs and charge outrageous prices.
• The focus of medicine shifted from preventative care to lifelong treatment models, maximizing corporate profit.

2. Health as Data: The Digital Era (2000s–Now):

• Tech companies like Google, Apple, and Amazon have entered healthcare, turning medical data into a commodity.
• AI-driven medicine is creating new layers of inequality, where only those who can afford personalized AI-based healthcare receive top-tier treatment.

?? Today, healthcare is no longer about well-being?—?it’s about financial gain.

5. The Consequences of Health as a Commodity

?? Inequality:

• Rich people live longer and healthier lives, while poor communities suffer from chronic illness, limited access, and medical discrimination.
• Disabled, neurodivergent, and chronically ill individuals are seen as economic burdens, rather than people with equal rights to care.

?? Medicalized Capitalism:

• Wellness culture and biohacking movements (e.g., Silicon Valley longevity projects) are designed for the elite, while the working class struggles with basic survival.
• The fitness, diet, and supplement industries exploit people’s insecurities to sell unproven but profitable “health” products.

?? Pharmaceutical Cartels & Drug Price Inflation:

• Drugs that should be affordable (insulin, cancer treatments, mental health medications) are priced out of reach due to patent monopolies.
• Big Pharma lobbies against public healthcare systems to maintain their profit margins.

6. Reclaiming Health: Moving from Commodity to Cooperative System

If health is to be reclaimed, it must stop being treated as a business and instead be reframed as a universal, ecosystem-based right.

? Health as a Public Infrastructure

• Like clean water and public transportation, healthcare must be treated as a communal resource, not an individual privilege.

? Decentralizing Medical Knowledge

• The monopoly on healthcare expertise must be broken, making knowledge about health, nutrition, and preventative care freely accessible.

? Dismantling the Insurance & Pharmaceutical Industry’s Stranglehold

• Publicly funded, universally accessible medicine must replace the profit-driven model.
• Research should be publicly owned, preventing corporations from hoarding life-saving technology.

? Integrating Complexity Evolution & Cooperative Health Models

• Health should be redefined not as the absence of disease but as the ability to function within an optimized system.
• The focus must shift from individual treatment to systemic well-being, prioritizing environmental, social, and economic factors that shape health outcomes.

Conclusion: Health is Not a Luxury, It’s a?Right

The commodification of health has led to systemic inequalities, medical monopolies, and a two-tiered society where only the wealthy get proper care. To dismantle this system, we must reject the market-driven model and return to cooperative, ecosystem-based approaches.

Health is not a product to be bought?—?it is a foundational human necessity that must be protected from corporate exploitation.